As a singer/songwriter and composer PT Walkley has managed to successfully and carefully walk the tightrope between creating music for mass entertainment and consumption such as TV shows, commercials and movies without losing sight of what he got into music to do — to create, deeply personal, thoughtful music heavily influenced by the blues, soul, R&B and 70s rock. 

Walkley’s latest full-length effort, Shoulders, which was released last month may arguably be among his most personal work to date as the material was heavily inspired by the emotions and thoughts of a rather bittersweet period of Walkley’s life — over the period of about a year, one his closest friends suddenly and tragically died, and his son was born. In some way, the album’s material reminds that life always pushes us forward whether we’re prepared for it or not. But it also manages to remind the listener that our lives are essentially about the connections we have with others, along with the accumulating compromises and regrets that become part and parcel of our lives — well, of adult life, really. 

The folks at BreakThruRadio invited Walkley in to perform a couple of songs from his latest album including the Muscle Shoals-sounding “Sirens,” which is as he says in the interview session about a man who realizes that he needs to stick it out, as well as “Don’t Forget About Me.” He also talks about how it is to write material for TV or for a commercial and how it manages to influence his sound and work.